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The Best of the First Democratic Presidential Debate

By
The New York Times

The Democratic presidential candidates — Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee — faced off for the first time on Oct. 13, 2015, in Las Vegas. We collected some of the most interesting moments here.

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Anderson Cooper.Credit
Josh Haner/The New York Times

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Hillary Rodham Clinton speaking during the debate Tuesday night in Las Vegas.Credit
Josh Haner/The New York Times

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Preparations were underway Monday at the Wynn Las Vegas for the first Democratic presidential candidates’ debate.Credit
Josh Haner/The New York Times

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The audience in Las Vegas watching the debate included Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader.Credit
Josh Haner/The New York Times

The Wynn Hotel and Casino was the venue for Tuesday’s Democratic debate.Josh Haner/The New York Times

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https://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/10/13/us/politics/hanerdemdebatepool-284/hanerdemdebatepool-284-facebookJumbo.jpg2015-10-13T23:27:52.052+00:00Clinton and Sanders Discuss EmailsAt the Democratic presidential debate, Hillary Rodham Clinton defended her handling of her email controversy and received unlikely support from her main rival, Senator Bernie Sanders.CreditBy CNNhttps://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/10/13/us/politics/hanerdemdebatepool-284/hanerdemdebatepool-284-facebookJumbo.jpg

Hillary Rodham Clinton once again sought to move past the controversy over her use of a personal email server that has plagued her campaign for months. But this time, she had a nationwide audience to make her case that the issue has become nothing more than a partisan attack.

She called the House committee investigating her email “a partisan vehicle” that is nothing more than an arm of the Republican National Committee. But, she said, efforts to lower her poll ratings have not worked.

“I am still standing,” she said. “I am happy to be part of this debate. And I intend to keep talking about the issues that matter to the American people.”

In that, she got some blunt, unlikely support from her main rival, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

“I think the secretary is right,” Mr. Sanders said. “That is that the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails.”

That might have been a clever move for Mr. Sanders, making him look kind to his rival even as he seeks to push the campaign back to the issues. But it also helped Mrs. Clinton dodge what might have been one of the toughest issues of her first debate. And Mr. Sanders somewhat inexplicably gave away the email issue as a way to criticize Mrs. Clinton in the future.

—
Michael D. Shear

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“Let me say something that may not be great politics. But I think the secretary is right, and that is that the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails.”

Hillary Clinton’s Shift on Pacific Trade Deal

Hillary Rodham Clinton, confronted with her 2012 speech in Australia where she called the Trans-Pacific Partnership “the gold standard in trade agreements,” said she had hoped “it would be the gold standard,” but she claimed that when it was concluded recently, it fell short.

It is true that when she gave that speech in 2012, the Pacific accord, which ropes in 40 percent of the world’s economy, was far from complete. But during the last two rounds of negotiations, in Maui and Atlanta, the trade deal shifted to the left, not the right.

Clinton and Sanders Split on Financial Reform

But Mrs. Clinton is more focused on specific changes to address the causes of the last crisis and potential sources of the next. Mr. Sanders is more focused on reducing the size and political influence of the biggest banks.

Hillary Clinton’s Evolution on Keystone Pipeline

Call it an evolution or a flip-flop. In 2010, as secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton said she was “inclined” to approve a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.

As a candidate for president, she refused to give a concrete position on the issue, until she said last month that she opposed the project — after a number of liberal donors made clear that they saw opposition to it as a litmus-test issue.

Bernie Sanders Explains Opposing Immigration Bill

On the issue of immigration, Bernie Sanders has been forced to explain some history — namely, why he opposed the attempt at an immigration overhaul in 2007.

At the debate, Mr. Sanders said he rejected President George W. Bush’s immigration overhaul that year because of its provisions regarding guest workers. Mr. Sanders has long voiced concerns about guest-worker programs, both because of working conditions and also because he says that allowing more temporary foreign workers drives down wages for American workers and hampers efforts to reduce unemployment.

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https://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/10/13/us/politics/hanerdemdebatepool-159/hanerdemdebatepool-159-facebookJumbo-v2.jpg2015-10-14T01:15:21.021+00:00Clinton and Sanders Spar Over GunsAt the first Democratic presidential debate, Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized Senator Bernie Sanders for his opposition to some gun control laws.CreditBy CNNhttps://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/10/13/us/politics/hanerdemdebatepool-159/hanerdemdebatepool-159-facebookJumbo-v2.jpg

When the debate turned to guns, Bernie Sanders tried to explain a politically dissonant note in a vigorously left-leaning career. And Hillary Rodham Clinton was not about to pass up an opportunity to draw a sharp distinction with her insurgent rival.

Asked if Mr. Sanders was tough enough on guns, Mrs. Clinton was blunt: “No, not at all,” she replied. Well-versed on Mr. Sanders’s history on the issue, she proceeded to recount his opposition to the Brady Bill, which required background checks for gun purchases.

After the mass shooting this month in Oregon, there was little question that Mr. Sanders would face scrutiny over his mixed record on gun control. At the debate, he tried to give some context. “The views on gun control in rural states are different than in urban states, whether we like it or not,” he said.

But the discussion nonetheless put a spotlight on one of his vulnerabilities among Democratic voters: his 2005 vote in favor of a law that shields gun manufacturers and dealers from liability lawsuits. Mr. Sanders, who was then a House member, on Tuesday seemed to shy away from that vote, explaining that the bill was “large and complicated.”

Like Mrs. Clinton, Martin O’Malley also took a tough stance on guns, describing his efforts to reduce gun violence when he was governor of Maryland. Mr. Sanders, who at the debate voiced support for closing the gun show loophole, responded to both the same way — by suggesting that those fighting for gun control are “shouting” about the issue.

“All the shouting in the world is not going to do what I would hope all of us want,” he said.

The subject of how to regulate Wall Street was one of the more difficult exchanges for Hillary Rodham Clinton during the debate, as both Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley attacked her from the left on the topic of breaking up the big banks.

The issue is an animating one for the Democratic base, particularly those supporting Mr. Sanders.

In words that don't lend themselves easily to a quick delivery — "casino speculative mega bank gambling" — Mr. O’Malley raised the possibility restoring the Glass-Steagall act, which which had separated commercial and investment banking until it was repealed during President Bill Clinton's administration.

Mrs. Clinton has said banks should be regulated, but has not pressed to break up the large banks, an issue that is fraught with peril in a primary in which the Democratic base feels no one was sufficiently held accountable for what happened in 2008.

"My plan is more comprehensive," Mrs. Clinton said. "And frankly, it's tougher because of course we have to deal with the problem that the banks are still too big to fail. We can never let the American taxpayer and middle-class families ever have to bail out the kind of speculative behavior that we saw."

When the moderator pointed out that Mrs. Clinton said her plan was tougher, Mr. Sanders replied, "Well, that's not true."

"Let us be clear that the greed and recklessness and illegal behavior of Wall Street, where fraud is a business model, helped to destroy this economy and the lives of millions of people," Mr. Sanders said.